Captain Aratrist, who was stationed in Fort Pedro, was so tired of the cowardly General Buenos Aires!

This Castile veteran who had fought in the South Netherlands for many years could not believe his eyes. General Portillo in the south actually issued an order to stop conflicts with the East Coast people. This seventeenth-century version of the "No Resistance Order" made Captain Aratrist, who still had passion and military honors, furious and almost at the point of refusing to execute. But after careful consideration, the captain was sad to find that he had only more than a hundred cavalry under his command, with food and ammunition in a very shortage of military pay, and had not paid military salaries for four months. With such capital, how could he fight with the increasingly powerful East Coast people?

Captain Aratrist's adopted son, the brave musketeer Inigor de Balboa, an old partner, and the swordsman Luis de Alqueza, who had been with the mercenary for many years, persuaded the captain not to act rashly. They were not regular soldiers of the Spanish Kingdom, but just poor mercenaries - and mercenaries who had been owed military pay for a long time. There was no need to fight against the seemingly well-equipped and well-trained pagans on the East Coast for this, because it was not worth it.

Everyone finally broke out from the battlefield of the South Netherlands, where there were piles of dead people. Before the king even paid the eight months of military pay with them, he traveled across the ocean to the New World to try his luck. Life was so displaced. There was no need to stick to some things in the past - for honor and for the king, he fought for the king for half his life, and received countless faint pain wounds on his body. As a result, the king was still at ease with them, owing them a total of twelve months of life. What reason would such people have to ask others to be loyal to him? Captain Aratrist, musketeer Balboa, and swordsman Alqueza should only live for himself. The people of the East Coast farmed and grazed in the wild, so let them go. We died and injured dozens of people, and we have achieved our best. Let's keep our doors closed and live our lives in the future.

Perhaps Colonel Kamala, in the city of Posadas to the north, would be disappointed with his lack of fighting spirit, but he should be able to understand that no one can still maintain honor while hungry. What's more, the colonel himself was as stable as a quail under the pressure of the East Coast people - even the main force of the East Coast people - and then he had no reason to blame others.

"I hope God can protect Spain." Captain Aratrist had only so much. Although the priest in the church did not agree with his opinion, the captain still decided to send a peace envoy to the east coast.

...

"Mr. Luis de Alqueza? Oh, I'm still a lieutenant. Sorry, we should receive you in the specifications of an officer, orderly, exchange for Madeira sweet wine, Parmesan cheese and two steaks." Zhu Liang's Spanish is not very good, so after reading the documents for a long time, he understood the identity of the Spanish envoy.

"King Philip never admitted my identity as a lieutenant..." Alqueza said with some self-deprecating self-deprecating, "Even he has never formally summoned us to join the army. We are just cheap mercenaries. When the king thinks about it, he sends us some salary, and when he doesn't need us, he dislikes it like a rag. Look, he is afraid that we will loot the South Netherlands because of the arrears of military salary, so he kicks many of us into La Plata and disperse them."

Looking at Alqueza and Balboa who were eating and drinking, Zhu Liang's mind became flexible: These two Spanish people have something to say! The veteran who was owed military pay and was dissatisfied with mercenaries who were financially inseparable and had no fighting spirit, there was a lot of work to do here!

Unlike most of the strong officers in the Army Department, Zhu Liang, an army veteran, is not a reckless man who only likes to fight and kill. Although he is very cruel to the natives, he also advocates using various means to solve various complex problems. In his opinion, military means have never been the best choice at the top. Now the Spaniards in Fort Pedro are clearly looking for peace, and they look down and have poor moral integrity. So can we use military and economic means to solve the problems here once and for all, so that the people of the East Coast can expand unscrupulously nearby? Maybe we can give it a try!

"Aratrist - Well, that's what it should be. I agree with the ceasefire agreement proposed by the Captain." Major Zhu Liang drank a sip of sweet wine and looked at Lieutenant Alqueza and said, "But you should not set obstacles to our nearby reclaiming behavior. According to our official agreement with your country, our residents are allowed to invest in the Hejian area. That is to say, our actions are completely legal, and even King Philip cannot deny it. Moreover, you have established more than one military stronghold and far more than five hundred troops in the Hejian area, which has blatantly violated the relevant provisions of the Valladolid Peace Treaty, and we reserve the right to protest and complain to you."

The Spanish said silently, as if there was nothing to argue about in this matter. They could not beat others and were grabbed by others with small braids. So what else can I say? Leave all this damn thing to the big guys to worry about. We were just poor people who had been owed a year of military pay.

"Of course, we are not ready to do this for the time being." Zhu Liang changed his subject and said leisurely: "Because our investment business has not been seriously damaged yet, the endless disputes or fights with you will only affect our production, and no one will be unable to get along with the money. If - I mean - if - you and Captain Aratrist behind you can ensure that our residents can live and provide convenience in the Hejian area, we don't mind paying you a little reward. Wine, fish, white bread, tobacco, sugar and even cute silver coins, we have so much here, we don't mind sharing these things with friends, but only if he can play his own value - suppress the nearby Guarani and Crandi tribes that are hostile to us, and provide convenience for our investment career, can it be done, Mr. Alqueza?"

Zhu Liang's words hit the hearts of the people made Alquesa and Balboa look pale for a moment. Although he had not thought about this possibility in his heart, the strong sense of betrayal and shame still made the two mercenary leaders who had been through the battlefield feel a little dazed. They were not that they had not served the foreign monarchs, but they had never been hostile to the Spanish Kingdom. The people of the East Coast had said it very clearly just now. As long as they listen to their words and do their jobs for them, they would not mind helping the poor mercenary troops under the captain. But can this be done? Alquesa and Balboa looked at each other and were a little confused for a moment.

Major Zhu Liang did not urge the Spanish to give an answer. He drank quietly and looked at the Spanish soldiers fighting with a fun mentality. He knew in his heart that they were already moved, but they could not pass the hurdle in their hearts. However, in Major Zhu Liang's view, this was not a problem in the end. Captain Aratrist and his partners' bottom line was probably not to let them be enemies with the Spanish Kingdom. So this matter was actually easy to deal with, because the East Coast people never thought of being enemies with the Spanish Kingdom - at least for the time being - the biggest obstacle to the East Coast people's cultivation was undoubtedly the so-called naturalized indigenous tribes in the so-called parish, because most of the land needs to be seized from them. The number of white people in the Hejian area is too small and there is no conflict with the East Coast people!

In this way, as long as the Spanish army does not intervene, the armed reclamation policy of the East Coast people will not encounter real threats. After all, the Crandi and Guarani tribes who have joined the church are not taken seriously by the East Coast people. The East Coast people can handle those goods with poor combat capabilities. Of course, if the Spanish soldiers and gangsters are willing to cooperate, it will be even more relaxed to deal with these indigenous people. Thinking of this, Zhu Liang only felt that his side was like foreigners who bought Chinese local governments and warlords in the future, easily gaining excess profits from all over the place, and everyone was still providing them with convenience, which was so cool.

The Spaniards finally left without giving a clear answer. They only reached an agreement with Major Zhu Liang about the ceasefire, but Zhu Liang was not worried about how these people would choose.

Sure enough, in late October, he sent fifty barrels of refined flour and some wine (Chen Ke personally applied to his superiors and allocated them from the Daxing County National Reserve Grain Depot), Captain Aratrist even cancelled his routine patrol and completely allowed the East Coast people to colonize everywhere. At the same time, Lieutenant Alqueza secretly came to Torch Township in early November and had a secret talk with Major Zhu Liang who was just about to leave. Lieutenant Alqueza said that in the town of Ignacio in the south of Hejian, there were many old friends of Captain Aratrist, Alqueza was completely willing to act as an intermediary to establish connections between the East Coast people and them. The East Coast people only need to pay reasonable remuneration.

In principle, Zhu Liang promised Alqueza's proposal, but he said that the matter could be discussed in detail with Chen Ke from Xiaolou Township. The other party should give Lieutenant Alqueza a satisfactory reply, and he himself would lead the troops to train elsewhere and would no longer be responsible for the matter in the future.
Chapter completed!